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Denn, Wilmington agree on temporary police plan

Attorney General Matt Denn and Wilmington officials have agreed on a plan to request $640,200 in state grants to fund new police foot patrols in dangerous areas of Delaware’s largest city.(Photo: SUCHAT PEDERSON/THE NEWS JOURNAL)Buy Photo

Attorney General Matt Denn and Wilmington officials have agreed on a plan to request $640,200 in state grants to fund new police foot patrols in dangerous areas of Delaware's largest city.

The plan would fund overtime for six patrol officers working 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. shifts seven days a week, allowing police to interact face-to-face with city residents who cope daily with violent crime in their neighborhoods.

It is only a temporary proposal to address crime in Wilmington, with funding only expected to begin in March and last through the summer. The plan also calls on city and Department of Justice officials to meet monthly with, and gather advice from, residents in neighborhoods subject to the patrols. Wilmington police officials would also be expected to meet weekly with New Castle County Police, Delaware State Police and the Department of Justice to discuss using data to target high-crime areas and tactics of officers on the overtime patrols.

Officers from the Wilmington Police Department, New Castle County Police Department, and Delaware State Police Department would be eligible for the volunteer patrols, with preference given to Wilmington officers, according to details of the plan.

Money would also be included in the plan to pay a supervisor when officers from jurisdictions outside the city are tapped to staff the patrols.

Putting officers on foot patrols will help improve police relationships in city neighborhoods, Wilmington Mayor Dennis P. Williams said in an interview on Tuesday. Williams said he would like to see patrols funded beyond the summer.

"It would be great to see walking officers permanently fixed in certain districts," Williams said. "I would like to see the state fund the entire project."

Gov. Jack Markell also said in an interview on Tuesday that he has discussed the plan with Denn and supports the proposal.

Denn said he expects a formal request in the next two weeks, after gathering input from civic leaders in Wilmington. The money would come from the state's Neighborhood Building Blocks Fund, a $1 million program funded last year by money secured in a mortgage settlement with JP Morgan Chase. The Department of Justice would receive the money and disburse it to departments that provide overtime documentation.

"Six officers out on foot patrol is six more officers than there are now. I think everyone agrees that's a good thing," Denn said Tuesday.

Denn said he would like to find ways to more permanently fund foot patrols if the program "proves successful." Longer-term funding could come from additional settlements with financial institutions. Lawmakers have yet to allocate about $36 million from mortgage-related settlements with Bank of America and Citigroup, money secured as part of larger national settlements led by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Denn was in Legislative Hall on Tuesday, the first day of the 148th General Assembly, and said he has discussed the plan with lawmakers and Markell administration officials.

"Everything's part of the puzzle," said Rep. Charles Potter, a Wilmington Democrat. "We have to do everything we can to fix the problem. I know we're going to alleviate the problem and things are going to get better. I support what the attorney general is doing."

Rep. Stephanie Bolden, a Wilmington Democrat who did not meet with Denn on the plan Tuesday, said paying more officers to walk neighborhood beats is a "great idea. However, it needs to be consistent," Bolden said. "It can't be something you're getting funding that's going to last a year or six months, then the funding's gone and officers go."